Page 75 of The Broken Queen

If I could save Julianna from the horrors of the crown and this wretched life we were born into, I would’ve done anythingto make it happen. Even if that meant taking me away from her and Slade for good.

No more arranged marriages.

No more failures to my duty as Queen.

No more threats to my daughter and the love of my life.

No more Father...the man who played with my heartstrings, making me think I had a father who was around instead of the real one who wasn't.

If I had to make a deal with the devil, then I would. Gladly. My soul for his.

My move had been made. Now it was time for the true king to make his.

SLADE

It had been two days since I’d seen or heard from her. While that wouldn’t normally have been a big deal, knowing where she was and who she was with scared the hell out of me.

We looked but never found her. They took her somewhere completely off the radar and did god knows what to her.

My crew and I were able to sneak onto the estate grounds thanks to Lewis and his men. There were over a thousand people here, waiting to see the bride and groom complete their vows, not to mention the press that was filming the entire ceremony live.

Perfect.

The time for her to walk down the aisle was coming quickly, and I was honestly nervous to see the state she was in.

To not be able to save her like I should have. To not have kept her locked away at the compound, so this wouldn’t have happened.

I screwed up, and I was paying the consequences. Lewis and I made sure to hide Julianna away so she would be safe. I didn’twant her getting caught up in the madness or knowing how truly awful her grandfather was.

While beautiful, the black and red scene reminded me of a funeral.I wonder if she did that on purpose.

I still had no idea what Raven’s original plan was for moving up the wedding, but I did know that if I didn’t move quickly, she would be married off and I would never see her again.

I didn’t want to think of what he did to her behind closed doors. My fists clenched. I didn’t want to think about how he had his hands on what was mine.

I noticed a news person standing off to the side, getting ready for her live action debut of covering the royal wedding. I took that as my chance to go have a chat with her.

My guys were stationed around, ready to make the move when I gave them a signal. This was the day we had been waiting for. Taking back what was rightfully mine, giving the kingdom someone who understood where they came from, someone who would give them a thriving economy.

I made my way over to the stunning brunette and gave her the most charming smile I could muster. “I have a breaking story for you. Do you think you could take a look at it and air it during the ceremony?”

Her blue eyes narrowed, “Why should I do that? They seem happy, I don’t want to ruin that by sharing a story from a guy who looks like he’s up to no good.”

A grin made its way onto my face. “We’ll, I guess we will see how you feel when the rightful heir takes his place on the throne. The groom has no place up there withMy Queen.”I enunciated the words so it would register in her brain. She seemed clueless until finally the gears started spinning.

I held out the manila folder, and she eagerly took it from my hands. I had made copies of everything I had, and kept the originals back at the compound in case I needed them. But asshe sifted through them, with people filling in around us, not paying any bit of attention, she grew more and more engaged.

Her gaze met mine. “You want this all aired right now?”

It had to be at just the right time. “As soon as the Queen walks down the aisle, that’s when I want it aired.”

She nodded, “Can I keep this copy for now?”

“Go for it.” I left her there, hoping she would do exactly what I said, and searched for Lewis. He was supposed to get me in to see her. So I could warn her, tell her I had come for her and that I was going to get her out of this.

She probably thought I abandoned her.

When I found Lewis about ten minutes later, he was standing off in the corner, evading everyone around him. Once he saw me, he grimaced.

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